THIS JULY 13, 2011 file photo, provided by the International Security Assistance Force's Flickr website, shows Gen. David Petraeus (left) shaking hands with Paula Broadwell, co-author of his biography "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus." Petraeus resigned Nov. 9 as director of the Central Intelligence Agency after admitting to an extramarital affair with Broadwell. ISAF via AP

By Amy E. Barone

We’ve all heard it in the news: CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus’ extramarital affair or former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s embroilment in a prostitution scandal. Recently, Cortland County District Attorney Mark Suben has been infiltrating local and national news. Suben admits to being a porn actor some 40 years ago before he was married, had children, went to law school or became a public figure.

Sex is such a scandalous topic for the media — and a huge moneymaker, too. We’ve become a reality-TV obsessed culture where the over-the-top drama becomes the norm. “Housewives of Orange County,” “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” “Holly’s World” all involve soap opera-ish drama (with a capital “D”). They’re raking in big bucks for producers (thank you, Ryan Seacrest), while distracting citizens from material realities: international policy, economy, education, poverty, etc.

For the world of politics, however, where does this leave us? At least those living in the community in which so-called scandal has occurred? Suben acted in porn. George W. Bush did cocaine, had a love affair with alcohol and earned Cs at Yale. Questionable records span across bipartisan lines, as does its denial. I was a vegan for 10 years, but wore leather and occasionally indulged in sea scallops and lobster. I exceeded the speed limit as a teenager and was dishonest about my passion for more pervious ground cover vs. impervious black-top as an environmentalist in college.

Spitzer writes that the “public is entitled to judge public officials by the entirety of their existence, (but) I do think people can and perhaps should weigh different aspects of those lives in different ways.” What does our community value more, though? Scandalous topics pique our interest, rather than less glamorized material realities. Where’s the public outcry over the allocation of tax dollars for the wars abroad, loss of innocent human life, pitiful educational system and the growing rate of poverty?

The soap-opera Stephen Colbert names as “General’s Hospital” or references to “The Military-Adulterous Complex” are humorous and timely. They increase ratings and succeed in distracting viewers from more serious, real-life concerns. We have a choice about what to value more: TV Guide’s hot topics or real-life issues. With Marv Albert’s cross-dressing-woman-biting incident back in the 1990s, we learn the sports anchor was fired, but later rehired by NBC and MSG networks. If we can learn anything from media’s obsession about sex, it is that it is transitory.

Amy E. Barone, of Cortland, is a writing instructor at Syracuse University.